What Happens When It's Cold?
by xXx.-M.L-.xXx
Summary: Dabbling with the characters of Vastra/Jenny. Vastra is in danger after staying out late in the cold. The only one who can save her now is Jenny. But what was she doing out so late? T for safety in case of later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

_Vastra struggled, the cold winter night draining the energy from her very core. _

"_Have I left it too late? Am I going to die? No I can't." Vastra's thoughts were the only thing keeping her focused._

_The light snow only hindered her desperate attempt to get home. Entering the street of Paternoster Row, Vastra weighed the thought of running home through her mind. "If I stay at this pace I won't make it home but if I run I could use up all of my energy." The situation was desperate. If she were to fall unconscious on the street she would surely die from the exposure to the cold. The Silurian made her choice. The dash to her home seemed to take forever; every footstep was painful as her muscles struggled to work. Vastra's vision started to fade and the world around her became a dark blur. She had only one thought: "Get to that door." _

_The blackness closed in around her, she slipped on piece of black ice and slammed into her door. The door shook, almost breaking off its metal hinges. Her conscious thoughts were fading and with her last coherent breath she yelled the name of the only person who could save her. "Jenny!"_

Jenny was pacing around the warm interior of the kitchen trying to keep herself busy. Vastra was late, later than normal. Jenny busied herself by re-wiping surfaces she had previously cleaned an hour ago. To be honest the house was spotless; nothing out of place, nothing out of order.

Jenny sighed, it was past midnight and the harsh cold had set in hours ago.

"W'ere is she?" Her cockney accent detailing her frustration. She paced into the lounge room gazing outside through the glass pane window. Her eyes focused on the sky with the snow falling, painted against the black sky. Jenny turned, still frustrated with Vastra's negligence. "She knows not to be out this late." Once more muttering to herself.

The fire sputtered gaining Jenny's attention. The dim red flames glowed signaling that they needed to be stoked. Jenny was on her way to grab another piece of wood when suddenly there was a crash at the door. Jenny ducked instinctively but pivoted around to face the door. But she stopped frozen by what she heard next.

"_Jenny!"_

* * *

_A/N _- Thank you for those that have read this far. I wanted to try something different and so I decided to experiment with Vastra/Jenny. Sorry if it seemed a little OoC, it is my first attempt at a story with them. Feel free to leave me comments, especially if it is constructive criticism. :)


	2. Chapter 2

Jenny Flint was not the type of woman to be paralyzed when faced with an uncertain situation. Her experience in the battle at Demon's Run and just recently with those horrible snowmen had proved that, but today she faltered. The cry of Vastra had stunned her. In all the time they had been together, even before they were married, Jenny had never heard such desperation come from Vastra.

Jenny brushed away the fear. "Was it fear?" She thought, though now was not the time for silly questions. The front door appeared as if from nowhere as the adrenalin coursed through her veins. Jenny ripped open the door, not really caring if it fell off its hinges.

In front of her laid the crumpled body of Vastra. Jenny received another dose of adrenalin; her heart was pounding as she knelt down beside her fallen love. "Is she breathing? Is she awake? What if she is dead?" Jenny's mind was racing as she struggled to remain calm. Jenny placed the back of her hand gently on Vastra's face. She moved her hand away sharply; Vastra's face was ice cold and collecting moisture. Jenny wasted no time in grabbing Vastra under her shoulders and dragging her inside by the fire, slamming the door shut with a kick.

She let the Silurian slump onto the rug covered floor while she fetched wood for the dying fire. Grabbing two small logs of wood, she placed them on the fire and stoked it. Jenny turned back to Vastra, again feeling the scaled skin on her face. She felt little change in what seemed like a large amount of time. However she felt a slow, lagging breath escape Vastra's nose. She was alive.

Jenny worked on freeing Vastra from her clothing. Each item she removed was freezing, wet and bloodstained. The small metal clang revealed a short sword, the blade just longer than a dagger. "Wot 'ave you been up ta?" Jenny asked, staring down onto Vastra's bloodstained skin. She didn't recall Scotland Yard getting in contact with Vastra or Jenny would have gone with her. After moving Vastra closer to the flared up fire Jenny searched Vastra's body for injury. After checking and double checking Jenny was certain that Vastra was uninjured. None of the blood on her body was hers.

Jenny shifted the dirty clothes out of the way of the area and sat crossed-legged behind Vastra's head. Though Vastra still remained unconscious, Jenny could feel that her scaled skin was starting to retain the heat. All Jenny could do was sit and wait. She took a deep breath and held it; it had felt like an eternity since she had taken a breath of fresh air. Clarity was finally coming back to Jenny as the adrenaline died off. Her mind was a buzz of activity that could no longer be silenced. "Why didn't she tell me she was going out? Where has she been? Why was she gone so long? What if she didn't make it home? Does she not care about how I feel? Maybe she doesn't realize how important she is to me?" Jenny shut off the mental dialogue. Those questions would have to wait.

Vastra stirred beneath her; an arm twitch and a heavy breath. Jenny waited "What if she doesn't take another breath?" Again the mental dialogue got the better of her. Fortunately she didn't have to wait long for an answer. Vastra took another, softer breath and her eyes opened. Jenny let out a sigh of relief as her eyes were met by weak but piercing light blue eyes.

* * *

A/N - Here is another chapter. I did take it down once to do a double check for spelling and grammar. I hope everyone who is keeping up with the story leaves so feedback. Constructive criticism is welcome :)


	3. Chapter 3

Vastra lay still, struggling to open her eyes. Her body felt the immediate heat and the soft rug beneath her. Her risk had paid off; she was alive but at a cost. All of her body felt heavy as if she had been placed in cement. The heat however was working; she could feel the blood circulating through her body. It felt like hot pangs of pins and needles spreading up and down through her limbs. She could hear Jenny breathing and pinpointed her to be just behind her head. Jenny's breathing was rapid and shallow. _"She is worried, of course she is."_ The thought made Vastra impatient and frustrated. Again she tried to open her eyes, they came close but she still couldn't see. Vastra inhaled deeply and by instinct tried to clench her fist. This resulted in a small twitch, the messages from her brain still not getting through to her body. _"Pathetic. Oh so pathetic!"_ Vastra tried to console herself, now was not the time to get enraged. She took another breath and tried her eyes again. This time she was successful.

The light burned her eyes at first and refused to focus on her surroundings. After a few minutes of slow, cautious blinking, Jenny came into focus. Jenny's brow was creased deeply and her dark brown eyes bore deeply into her own. Vastra knew she had explaining to do; she had already made that prediction outside. The heat was slowly working and Vastra offered a meek smile. Jenny was still not impressed. Jenny raised her hands to her cheeks and wiped under her eyes. "_Oh my, has she been crying?" _ Vastra thought, Silurians couldn't cry, at least that is what she had been told.

"_No, you do not get to smile at me after everything you just put me through."_ Jenny's voice was layered with emotion as she stared down at her wife. "_I will ask you questions and you will confine yourself to single word responses. One word only. Do you understand?"_

Vastra did understand. She knew only too well how the test works; one word responses to receive truth and to stop lies. Vastra believed in truth and brutal honesty, and she was incredibly proud of Jenny for remembering so. However it was going to take more than one word to explain herself.

"_Yes_." The answer was drawn out as Vastra's body was still struggling to act normally.

It was now Jenny's turn to finally unleash her mental dialogue and boy was she looking forward to it. "_Why didn't you tell me that you were going out?"_

"_Secrecy" _

"_Why did it need to be a secret?" _ Jenny's brow furrowing again.

"_Danger."_

"_But if it were dangerous, why didn't ya ask me to come with you?"_

The Silurian thought for a moment before answering. "_Past."_

Jenny was confused. "_Past?"_

There was now a knot of emotion in the Vastra's throat. "_Apes."_ The word was spat out.

"_Humans?"_ Jenny sat still confused. She thought Vastra had moved on from her hatred with help from the Doctor.

"_Men."_ Vastra said simply.

"_You went out and killed men? Wearin' no garments to keep the cold from ya?" _Jenny gestured to Vastra's blood ridden clothes. "_And almost died to do it? Why?"_

Vastra knew exactly why. "_Protection."_

Jenny was getting the impression that her questions were leading to less answers than she wanted. "_Protection for 'om_, you?"

"_You."_

Jenny sat dumbfounded. "_Alright, you need to tell me right now what is going on."_

Vastra gave a simple nod. She sat up, it was a slow agonizing movement and she let out a small groan. Her back scales caught the heat from the fire and she shifted her body around to face Jenny.

"_Do you remember the first time we met, my dear?"_ Vastra said after clearing her throat.

Jenny did, it isn't something she was likely to forget. The hands grabbing, violating and torturing her in ways she didn't like to remember.

"_Yes, of course."  
_

* * *

_A/N - _I think I finally have my story where I wanted it. Feel free to leave some feedback :)


	4. Chapter 4

The moment of silence was uncomfortable. _'Yes, of course.'_Jenny's pained voice uncovered Vastra's empathy. She let out a hiss; it hurt her to hear the incident still cause her pain.

'_Jenny.' _Vastra took Jenny's hand; it was hot, much hotter than usual. Jenny's eyes were focused on Vastra's hands. Jenny was stroking her thumb across the scaled skin of Vastra's knuckles. It had become a nervous habit. She felt the deep grooves of where her scales met as if analyzing them even though she had felt them hundreds of times before. This was unintentionally distracting for Vastra. Though they had been together so long, Jenny's touch still amazed her. The instant heat was surprising and sent a tingle up her spine.

* * *

'_Do you remember when we went into town earlier today?'_ She watched Jenny look up at her and close her eyes.

'_Yes Ma'am. We went shopping for me, Ma'am.' _Jenny opened her eyes and met Vastra's. '_I don't see what this has to do with how we met.'_

Vastra leaned back, resting her hands behind her. She let her fingers run through the soft fabric of the rug, never taking her eyes off Jenny's.

'_I know. You see, you didn't see the men staring at you or maybe you did and failed to see their intention. They were so focused on you that they failed to see me drifting behind you, and not noticing me my dear is a hard feat'_

Jenny remembered back to earlier that day. Vastra had made them leave the grocery early. She had seemed insistent but Jenny had brushed that off to her having something else to do that day. '_You were jus' protecting me?'_

Vastra let out a small laugh. '_Jenny, if you haven't noticed by now, we Silurian's are very protective. We almost waged war against your own species when we felt that we were under threat. You are my wife, someone I love; of course I am going to be protective.'_

Jenny took a moment to take what Vastra had said. She was never an openly emotional person, especially when it came to the feelings of love and compassion.

'_But 'ow did you know what they were going to do to me?'_ She tilted her head as if she was trying to aim for a different perspective on Vastra. '_How do you know you didn't kill innocent men?'_

Vastra smirked. _'When confronted by me, I find people are rather truthful.'_

Jenny nodded, Vastra can be quite intimidating.

'_Let me explain. When we got home I made it my duty to keep you busy.' _

Jenny had noticed. '_So that's why you made me clean the house top to bottom.'_

Vastra nodded. '_Yes and prepare dinner. By the time you got to preparing dinner I decided to step out and find them.'_

Jenny sighed. '_But why couldn't you 'ave just told me what you were doing?'_

Vastra cracked her neck. It was stiff and was causing her mild discomfort. '_I didn't want to involve you. It would mean explaining to you and then it would have been too hard for you. You could have become irrational.' _Vastra explained succinctly_._

'_And what you did was rational? You still haven't told me how you knew what they were doin' _Jenny quipped, finding Vastra hard to believe.

'_I said let me explain.' _Vastra knew this wouldn't be an easy considering the circumstances. She paused a moment before continuing. '_I left you here trying not to alert you to my leaving. You would have only tried to stop me. I returned to the grocery and tracked them from there.'_

This wasn't extraordinary, Vastra was a born hunter. It was in her genes to track "prey" to survive.

'_I found them, the two of them, in a back alley. It did take me longer than I wanted it to. The cold was starting to take its toll but I was determined. I used the dark to my advantage and was going to sneak up on them.'_

Jenny watched Vastra pause, something came across her face. Was it Anger? Was it sadness? Or maybe it was a mixture of both. Jenny couldn't tell. '_Well then?' _Jenny prompted Vastra gently. She didn't want to push her too far. She could see that Vastra was unusually emotional. There was a long moment before Vastra spoke again, as if she were trying to find the right words to use.

'_I heard them talking, laughing as if it were all a big joke… about you. They were talking about what they would do to you when they found you again. Yes. They were going to seek you out, torture you and rape you and then, only then would they kill you.' _Brutal honesty.

Jenny was unprepared and let out a simple '_Oh.'_

'_In that moment I saw red. I couldn't control myself or my darker urges. I didn't even sneak up on them. Oh yes.' _Vastra paused and gave a small smile. '_They saw me coming and there was nothing they could do about it. The first man tried to run towards me, thinking that I'd be scared, silly ape. I unsheathed my sword and disemboweled him before slitting his throat. He was dead before his intestines hit the ground. Disappointing really.'_

All Jenny could do was sit and listen. She was used to how Vastra spoke but when she spoke about death it still shocked her, even if Jenny had been present at the time. It wasn't what she said; it was how she said it.

'_Now the second man, he was a lot cleverer than his stupid friend. He tried to run from me. Unfortunately for him, he didn't account for my speed. I stabbed him in the back and through his heart. His death was a lot less gruesome than his friend but still well deserved. If I had more time it would have been a lot more fun but I, myself was at death's door.'_

The fire crackled and popped and Jenny moved closer to Vastra. Even though Vastra was bloodstained she pulled Jenny close into an embrace.

'_So you risked it all for me. You risked dyin' for me?'_ Jenny still couldn't believe it.

'_Mmm.' _Was the reply of her wife who was comforted by Jenny's closeness and warmth.

Jenny turned to Vastra and put her hand on Vastra's chest where her heart was. She looked into Vastra's eyes.

'_You silly git.'_

* * *

_A/N - _And that my readers is the last chapter. I hope you have enjoyed it :)


End file.
